Material World

The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization

By: Ed Conway

Narrated by: Ed Conway

Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE

• AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

• Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium. These fundamental materials have created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and greed for thousands of years. Without them, our modern world would not exist, and the battle to control them will determine our future.

• Finalist for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award

The fiber-optic cables that weave the World Wide Web, the copper veins of our electric grids, the silicon chips and lithium batteries that power our phones and cars: though it can feel like we now live in a weightless world of information—what Ed Conway calls “the ethereal world”—our twenty-first-century lives are still very much rooted in the material.

In fact, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. For every ton of fossil fuels, we extract six tons of other materials, from sand to stone to wood to metal. And in Material World, Conway embarks on an epic journey across continents, cultures, and epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on Earth—traveling from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan to the eerie green pools where lithium originates.

Material World is a celebration of the humans and the human networks, the miraculous processes and the little-known companies, that combine to turn raw materials into things of wonder. This is the story of human civilization from an entirely new perspective: the ground up.

©2023 Ed Conway (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

*Named one of the "Best Books of 2023" by The Economist*

“Rich in revelations . . . [Conway’s] analogies bring the scientific processes to life . . . Offers a fascinating lens on the intricacies of the modern supply chain, the underappreciated science behind everyday objects, and the ways that subtle—and not so subtle—changes in governmental policies shift the role of these materials in the global economy.”—Bronwen Everill, Foreign Policy

"Compelling . . . Material World [makes] strong points . . . These days, Conway reckons, humanity mines, drains, and blasts more stuff out of the ground each year than it did in total during the roughly three hundred millennia between the birth of the species and the start of the Korean War. This comes with immense consequences, both ecological and social, even if we don’t attend to them."—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker

"A spirited tour of six material things on which our lives depend. . . [Conway] ably describes how commodities interact . . . Lively and impeccably written—a welcome addition to the way-the-world-works literature."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Must read for any citizen of the world

This books was well written and fascinating. The subject matter were well researched and efficiently presented to the reader. The examples help me understand the scope and scale of the reality of today and the challenges of tomorrow.

I can’t recommend this book enough.

Excellent history of the global materials that run the earth

The author did a great job telling the stories of the 6 most important materials on the planet. Their history , evolution, importance and impact on the planet going forward. I learned a lot!

Insightful

Living in a time when these titles are becoming increasingly necessary.

Incredibly intelligent content. No sand indicates no fiber optics, no silicon, no digital electronics, no high-speed communication, and no salt indicates no chlorine….

There appears to be less likelihood of other countries innovating anything since a small number of countries will likely rule the world and create new things for all time. The development of semiconductor technology, batteries, conductors, and lenses in other nations will take a century or more.
There is no doubt that the new green energy options will disappoint environmentalists. Just as energy can only be transformed, not created or destroyed, so too does our dependence on renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and electric cars not ensure a carbon-free, sustainable future.

We live in a time when a wide range of materials are available, so any new findings will probably reveal hitherto unidentified phenomena that we can only hope to witness in our lifetimes.

You should read this book!

This book is an easy read while also being very informative. The author beautifully describes the materials that make up the core of our civilization and the activities we go through to obtain them. This information is fundamental in making informed political decisions. It’s important to understand a little about the processes that house and feed you.

Surprisingly engaging

In the same genre as Mark Kurlansky’s “Salt” or “Cod,” or Wayne Curtis’s “And a Bottle of Rum”, this peek into the stories of six essential materials that make modern life possible holds its own and possibly exceeds those books in crafting a grippingly engaging story around some mundane materials, salt included. The author’s narration captures sincerely his own fascination with the stories he uncovers.

Rated by the Economist as the best book of the yea

This is an fascinating tour of the interconnected world we live in with anecdotes both informative and enlightening and occasionally distressing. The performance is marvelous!

Realistic Optimism

Ed Conway gives us a thoroughly researched look into how our society has transformed itself with the materials around us and how we are transforming how we use those materials going forward. He takes the audience through a world tour, stopping at remote locations most of us rarely think about, but that make our modern lives possible.

Phenomenal

You’ll learn all about all the major materials that drive the global economy and some of the geopolitics involved. Absolutely a must read.

the stuff we use to build our world

I would also like to hear about the next six most used materials in our world! maybe a trilogy

Engaging and entertaining

Great look at materials that make up modern life without being boring or overly detailed. Great historical context and ability to make everything very relevant